


somethin' else

by peterpiperparker



Series: Mel's 100 Celebration "Short" Fics [1]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Gen, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl, breakfast at 1 am is best breakfast, cause we love diners, diner time, mel's 100
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25130398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peterpiperparker/pseuds/peterpiperparker
Summary: Steph walks with a purpose before plopping down at one of the vinyl booths beside the window to the quiet night outside. Jason and Dick follow suit dutifully, Damian trailing behind slowly while looking at the dinky diner in distaste.She’s sure they must look out of place in their various crime-fighting garments, but she’s learned that if you walk with purpose and confidence you’ll never look out of place.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd
Series: Mel's 100 Celebration "Short" Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820356
Comments: 6
Kudos: 98





	somethin' else

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThatHydrokinetic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatHydrokinetic/gifts).



> this is a "short" fic that was requested by the lovely shelbychild on tumblr for my 100 follower celebration!! hope you enjoy, love!

Bells jingle overhead as they stumble through the door, and they’re still trying to quell their laughter when the waitress behind the counter tells them to pick a seat anywhere. She has a small smile on her face as she says it, gesturing to the empty booths throughout the diner.

Steph walks with a purpose before plopping down at one of the vinyl booths beside the window to the quiet night outside. Jason and Dick follow suit dutifully, Damian trailing behind slowly while looking at the dinky diner in distaste. 

She’s sure they must look out of place in their various crime-fighting garments, but she’s learned that if you walk with purpose and confidence you’ll never look out of place.

As Jason slides in next to Steph, Dick takes a seat across from her and gestures wildly for Damian to join him. “C’mon, Robin!”

He does as he’s told and gingerly sits on the padded bench, but not without a wrinkle to his nose. 

Steph rolls her eyes. “It’s a diner, not a _dive bar_ , kid.”

Jason chuckles, nudging Steph with his elbow, and says, “Not much better, if we’re bein’ honest.” The waitress stops at the end of the table with four menus and a tray of four glasses of water, eying the masked vigilantes with mild amusement as she hands them out. “Thank you, ma’am.” 

The waitress nods with that amused smile still in place and says, “Let me know when y’all are ready to order,” with a wink at Steph before walking back to the counter.

Dick looks up from Damian’s squirming form to tilt his head at Steph and Jason. “Like we’d ever be allowed to set _foot_ in a dive bar, let alone with Robin in tow.” He punctuates his statement with a pointed finger at Damian and a crooked smile. “B would roll into an early grave.”

Steph laughs, her mask digging into her cheeks. “Well luckily for _me_ , B’s not my boss. I can go wherever the hell I please.” She barely spares the menu a glance before setting it aside carelessly.

She’s responded with indignant sputters from Dick and Jason.

“He is _not_ my _boss_ , Blondie—”

“We were _partners_ , and now we’re _equals_ —”

Damian chimes in with, “Batman has no control over _me_ —”

Her laugh becomes louder, causing more sputters, but she cuts them off. “Are you ready to order or what?” Steph’s grin is nothing short of shit-eating, and only entices glares from the boys — grown, semi-grown, and still-growing — at the booth. She cocks an eyebrow at them, taking a sip of her water, and they just grumble and glare at their menus.

She hears Jason mutter under his breath, “Says the girl wearing bat ears,” but maturely ignores him with a swift kick to his shin under the table.

A black-clad hand waves the waitress over, Steph’s grin never leaving her face. “Heya, Sylvia. I’ll take my usual, thanks, and whatever the boys want.” She turns her gaze on them expectantly.

Jason looks up with that mischievous street kid smile that he never grew out of. “A cheeseburger with a side of fries, please.” His menu is put on top of Steph’s in the center of the table, and Dick picks them up seamlessly. 

Fingers push the menus into a neat pile in his grip. “A stack of chocolate chip pancakes, thank you.” He hands her the stack of menus with a flourish, and Sylvia takes it with a glance at Steph that says _Is this guy real?_ She shrugs; Dick’s never been one she’s positive is real, the entire time she’s known him. It’s the circus in him, that need to please an audience, Steph guesses.

“An egg whites omelette with mushrooms and tomatoes.”

 _He’s_ real.

Damian turns his nose up when Sylvia glances at him after jotting his order down. His mask enhances the distant snootiness, and Dick smoothly pushes his face back with a charming smile at her. His hand muffles Damian’s protests as he hands the last menu to her.

“I’ll be back with your orders,” she says with a wry smile, heading over to the chef’s window, her head slightly shaking as she goes.

Steph’s foot reaches all of their shins in succession, ignoring their cries of surprise. “I have to come back here, doofuses. This is my regular spot. Just because we happened to cross paths and decided to have a pow-wow doesn’t mean you can ruin the best waffles on this side of Gotham for me.”

Jason puts his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t do shit!” He’s met with a glare that has him rolling his eyes. 

Before he can continue, Damian says, “Don’t worry, we won’t ruin your ever-so-good ‘reputation’ at this establishment, Brat-girl.”

“What he _means_ to say—”

“I _meant_ what I _said_ —”

“—is that we’re happy to be here,” Dick finishes with a bright smile, as if Damian hadn’t spoken.

Placated for the time being, Steph leans back against the old vinyl booth. She wasn’t exaggerating; this is _her spot_. Something about the cracked vinyl seats, the broken jukebox in the corner, and the flood lights overhead that could blind you if you looked at them longer than ten seconds just calmed her. Sylvia’s almost always on shift when her patrol route finishes, and Jerry in the back makes waffles that rival the ones her mom used to make when she was little and had the time to spend with her daughter.

It may not be in the best side of town, or the best neighborhood, but it feels a little like what she’s always thought home should feel like.

Jason seems to recognize the look in her eye as her gaze roams the diner, dropping the subject for her. “Riddler is giving B a run for his money this week, huh?”

That startles a laugh out of Steph, bringing her back to the booth. “Eddie’s stepping up his game, good for him.” She fiddles with her straw wrapper, hands fidgety.

“Only you would be happy for a villain,” Damian sneers, but there’s no real heat behind his words. 

Sylvia comes by with a large tray, setting the meals in front of them one by one. “Let me know if I can get y’all anythin’ else.” She goes back to the counter, pulling a book from below and settling down to read.

There’s relative silence as they all dig into their food, Steph drowning her waffles in syrup and then Dick drizzles it lightly over his pancakes. 

There are two kinds of people in this world, and Steph doesn’t trust Dick’s kind.

Damian is uncharacteristically complacent as he eats his omelette. Steph won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, it’s not her style, but she eyes him a bit. He notices and stiffens. “What?”

“Is it to your approval, your highness?” she teases lightly, taking a bite of her waffles then gesturing to his plate with her syrupy fork.

His shoulders tense up slightly, but he nods. “It is acceptable.”

With a nod, Steph takes another bite. “Good,” she says through her mouthful. 

Damian’s lip curls, but he refrains from commenting. Dick looks mighty pleased with this progress, and eats his pancakes with more enthusiasm.

Jason and Dick make quick work of their food like the boys they are, while Damian eats his neatly and efficiently like the little weirdo he is. 

Steph finishes her waffles as Sylvia comes by with the bill, and she and Dick race to put their credit cards on the table. Neither card had _their_ name on it, per se, but it was in their wallets nonetheless.

“B isn’t my boss, my ass,” Jason mutters as he watches them fight to pay without really paying. “You waste his money like he is.”

Steph swivels to fully face him. “Waffles are never a waste, Hood.”

He shrugs her tone off and slides out of the booth. “Thanks for the burger, Blondie.” He waves a hand out as he walks out.

Dick pouts, looking down at his card that had won the battle, but hadn’t really gotten the victory. Steph smiles smugly at him, handing her card to Sylvia without looking away from him.

“Well, time to head home, kiddo,” Dick says, ushering Damian out of the booth. “We should do this again, Batgirl.” He winks, before putting a hand on Damian’s shoulder and guiding him out of the diner.

Sylvia hands Steph her card back, not having really needed it with the card already on file. “They’re something else, Batgirl.”

Steph chuckles. “Aren’t they?” She watches as Damian shrugs Dick’s hand off of him, but stays close to his former Batman as a true Robin would. Jason starts to disappear into the shadows of his home neighborhood, but he flashes a smile at her when he notices Steph’s eye. “They really are.”


End file.
